Saturday, 14 April 2012

Nico's news

I have had an email from Emma, with Nico, with some new footage of him which I thought you might be interested in. I'm collecting new footage of several of the rehabs here and that will be the focus for the blog for the start of next week. In the meantime, here is an update on old boy Nico:

"Excuse the slightly dodgy filming! He's really just got so much more lift and bounce in the trot now, properly pushing through from behind and dropping down through his head and neck, even on his bad rein. Just dug back through the blogs to look at the footage of him lunging previously, and he's a different horse [I've included the old footage for comparison - he's moving so better, particularly on the right rein!]. I know there's the difference in the hardness of the surface, but he's moving nearly as well when i lunge him on grass (which is where I've always done my lunging on hard) as he is in the school :)

He's one of those horses that just needs to be really pushed into your hand for a few sessions, even if that means motoring round significantly faster than one would really want, and then once the forward button has been reinstalled, you can stop pushing so hard. In the past this has normally equated to running, but when I schooled him at the weekend, he was just powering through, giving me some really through work and extended trot. I get the feeling he is just gonna have the most amazing trot on him once he is stronger (and I've remembered how to ride properly again!).

He's really started to muscle up properly his past couple of weeks - we've definitely turned another corner since the set back the other week. He's being a superstar out hacking, and everyone is commenting how well he is looking and how much more chilled out he is compared to before he was at yours (he used to be a real door banger - I couldn't arrive at the yard and stop to talk to anyone else cos he'd be screaming at me and kicking doors like mad - and he hasn't bashed a door since he's been back!)"

Rockley Farm's Blog

A diary of whats happening at Rockley, whether its news on rehab horses or on our own horses hunting and competing. All the horses are barefoot, and the blog includes updates on hoof rehabilitation and information about barefoot performance.

You can find out more about research, rehabilitation and our horses on the pages above or at our website: www.rockleyfarm.co.uk.